Activating

Our Training

Curriculum, I-WIL, and Values

Our offerings and practices evolved to address the changing education, entrepreneurship, and employment challenges young Canadians face. But certain patterns persist. Opportunities, innovative disruptions for good, and pathways to a brighter future continue to emerge.

We still see systemic social inequity. In 2021, we activated programs, practices, and partnerships to reduce barriers and increase access. We're committed to creating new opportunities aligned with our values and vision for a prosperous, equitable, and sustainable future.


Curriculum and Delivery Opportunities

Research shows that foundational, entrepreneurial skills are the emerging in-demand skillsets required for the future of work. We’re entrepreneurial in the way we teach entrepreneurial skills by constantly, testing, iterating, and taking risks with our delivery methods and curriculum.

Our programs develop initiative, collaboration, coping with ambiguity, critical thinking, and creativity. Introducing three new training platforms for participants allowed us to activate new ways of delivering content by streamlining and increasing access to resources and promoting real-time, peer-to-peer community building.

+ 97%  
2.6
K
participants across all programs
 
808
Volunteer Hours

In 2020, we committed to measure what matters. As we expose more youth to entrepreneurial skills development and work-integrated learning, we've begun to set internal intentions above and beyond what is asked by our funders. Across programs, for 2022, we're committed to collecting information that allows us to consult our community about their needs related to inclusion and belonging. In 2021:

+ 13.9
41.2
share of VFC program participants who identify as visible minority
52.9
share of VFC program participants who identify as female

Community engagement is essential to the sustainability of our programs:

70
of Internship participants would recommend VFC to a peer or friend
80
of Intrapreneurship participants would recommend VFC to a peer or friend
83
of Fellowship alumni would recommend VFC to a peer or friend

Curriculum and Delivery Opportunities

In August, we launched an Innovative Work Integrated Learning (I-WIL) program model, later coined "Intrapreneurship," with a goal of 85% participation from underserved populations (as defined by the Government of Canada). We developed relationships, approached branding thoughtfully, prioritized community input in the program's design, and established our first 100% bilingual program to meet these goals. We put our commitments into action by failing fast and failing forward, an entrepreneurial attitude we empower all of our program participants to embrace. We still have work to do, but this program achieved:

48
of participants identified as a visible minority
32
of participants identified as women in STEM
16
of participants identified as living in a rural/remote community
12
of participants identified as newcomers to Canada
7
of participants identified as having a disability
2
of participants identified as Indigenous
Partnerships + Global Impact